In IIT Student's Death Case, Court Allows Narco Test On Suspects

The Calcutta High Court has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of IIT Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed.

This comes after the second autopsy of Faizan Ahmed's body, sources say, referred to injuries sustained before death which were homicidal in nature.

The court also allowed a narco test on anyone that the SIT suspects could be involved in the case.

"The newly appointed investigation team may appoint officers for the purpose of investigation. All parties must cooperate in the probe given the new evidence that has emerged in the second post mortem report," the court said.

Faizan's body was exhumed on the orders of the Calcutta High Court about three weeks ago in Assam for the second autopsy, after several loopholes were pointed out by a court-appointed expert in the first one.

The body was taken to Kolkata by a team of West Bengal police, where the second autopsy was conducted by a court-appointed expert.

The high court while passing the order for exhumation of body had said a second post-mortem is "vital and necessary for arriving at the truth.

Faizan Ahmed was found dead in a hostel room on the campus premises on October 14 last year. The college authorities had said it was a case of suicide, but the family had alleged that he had been killed.

His family had told the court that he was pushed over the edge by ragging and that his complaints went unheard by IIT-Kharagpur's management. "It was a clear case of murder," they said.

The high court had earlier pulled up the director of IIT-Kharagpur, located in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, in the matter.

The court had, on December 1, reprimanded him for not acting on a ragging complaint, which was followed by the student's death.